Year 5 Dance

This half-term in dance we have been looking at how we can use movement and performance to tell a story. This has involved exploring the ways in which we can move our bodies and what emotion each movement can evoke. For example a slower, more exaggerated or more restricted movement might signify sadness or pain, whereas a more open, upbeat and ‘short’ movement might signify happiness or excitement.

To begin with, we had a look at some professional dances and discussed the stories that they might be telling. The children particularly enjoyed this performance, coming up with some lovely interpretations:

Once we had an idea of how a story could be told, we started to have a go at own own dances, centred around a particular emotion (in this case, sadness). I was really impressed with how well the children captured this emotion with their dance movements, particularly as many children had even considered what the stories behind their dances were! We had a lot of children telling stories about friendships breaking apart or people who wanted to be with each other but being unable to. Although not everyone wanted their performances to be filmed, we wanted to share what we had done with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!